Freedom Fighters
by hannahtranter16
Summary: Set when Sonic is young. A simple mission with a team-mate. But what happens when a simple timing gets mixed up, and what secrets will be revealed? OC's and I think the rating is ok


Freedom Fighters

"Heads up Sonic!" called a voice, highly recognised by all, as the village of Knothole was filled with the voices of children laughing and playing, "Right back at ya Sal!" another voice echoed as the rubber ball was bounced and thrown around the village. Princess Sally Acorn was playing with her friend Bunnie Rabbot and her best friend Sonic the Hedgehog, and why shouldn't they play? Since on that day it was the most extraordinary and sunny day that Planet Mobius had experienced in a long time, but it was curious how Mother Nature had picked this particular day to make the most happy and joyful day, since on that day was the anniversary of when Mobius plunged into a deep, dark era.

The Planet had been living in turmoil for just over a year now. A villainous monster had taken over this peaceful planet and now they were suffering the consequences of trusting someone they shouldn't have. Dr Ivo Robotnik had plunged everyone into the worst state anyone could ever imagine, and the only hope the people had was a small group of freedom fighters who were fighting to protect the planet and its people from this mad scientist. The freedom fighters consisted of four people; Col Matthew Stripe, the leader and most experienced as he was a retired sergeant, the brains of the operation was Carlie Cat, she was the one who knew what was happening and when, Sleuth Dog was the muscle of the team and was the one to be with on dangerous missions, and the final member was the most extraordinary of them all, his speed and cunning helped the team out on many occasions, this was none other than Sally Acorn's best friend Sonic the Hedgehog. Speed reaching over the speed of sound, he was a vital member of the group despite being the age of six. But that's all in the past; let's turn our attention once again to the peace and tranquillity of the day they are experiencing.

The wind was gently blowing through the trees of the Great Forest and the lake seemed so steady, the children of Knothole were having a great time playing in the sunshine, something they had not experienced like this for a long time.  
"Isn't this the best day ever!" Sally said, her voice ringing with happiness,  
"Ah think you pegged it Sally-girl, this is wonderful" Bunnie replied, her southern accent was a joy to hear,  
"Yeah, this has gotta rank in my top ten" Sonic joined in, for once not turning something into a joke.  
They played without a care in the world, like all children at that age usually do; despite all the loss they had suffered they found hope and love within the small group they had, as they were all they had left. The sun shone down over the trees, Sally, Sonic and Bunnie took time out from their energetic game and sat down, Sonic sat just in between two trees, you could see the sun shining through the leaves and what a sight it was, the warmth on his skin was a delight, a change from the cold air that surrounded the city of Mobotroplis, now called Robotroplis, after that tyrant had taken over. He could smell the flowers around him; the scent was a pleasure to behold, he picked a few of them and gave them to Sally, "Thanks Sonic, there lovely" she said, sniffing them herself, Sonic and Sally were close because they had both lost someone close to them, they helped each other through the bad times and celebrated through the good times, but one couldn't help wondering if they felt more than friendship.

While the children played the adults were planning their latest mission to Robotroplis where they would take the next factory down, this factory produced the robots that Robotnik used around the city, Shadowbots. "C'mon Carlie, what's wrong with this plan?" Matthew asked, wondering what was wrong, "Matthew, using explosives is fine, but taking Sonic with you" Carlie answered trying to get him to see it her way, "What's wrong with that, he's a member of the freedom fighters" Matthew said asserting his method, "He's just a kid and you know what Rosie will say! Carlie replied,

"I know that. But hasn't he proved he can take care of himself?" Matthew asked

"Well yes, but..." Carlie started

"But nothing, he's coming Carlie, and that's it" Matthew finished,

"Fine, have it your way, call him over" Carlie said, giving in to Matthew,

"Fine" Matthew repeated, "Hey Sonic, come here a sec" shouting out of the window,

"Be right back guys" Sonic told his friends,

"Hang on Sugar-hog, we'll come with ya" Bunnie said, the three went to the hut the freedom fighters were in and Matthew explained his plan to Sonic, "We're going to blow up the factory in Quadrant 6, the one that makes the Shadowbots" Matthew explained,

"Ok, with my speed, we'll be in and out of there before they know what's hit them" Sonic said,

"Who is Robotnik anyway?" Bunnie asked, she had not grown up with the others, she had come from a different part of the planet and met Sally and Sonic just as the city was being invaded,

"He's a low-life creep" Sonic answered,

"He started out being the Minister of Science for my Dad, but he turned on us" Sally added

"And if that's not bad enough, he turned almost every citizen into a robot, robbing them of all free will just so they can serve him" Matthew finished,

"He sounds awful, ah am glad ah haven't met him" Bunnie said,

"Well I'd like to come face to face with him, he took the most important people in my life from me, I mean apart from you guys" Sonic said, a tint of sadness in his voice, Sally knew who me meant, after Sonic's parents were killed in the war, Sonic became extremely close to his Uncle and dog. When they were Robotised Sonic became an orphan and was heartbroken. "

Well we're not getting anyway standing around here, me and Sonic will go to the city and we'll keep you updated via our communication watches" Matthew added and he and Sonic set off for Robotroplis.

After arriving Matthew and Sonic found the factory and started to put their plan into motion. You would hardly be able to recognise the city now, for it had vastly changed since the coup, the city used to be everything like the Great Forest was, the sun would shine and every day was a bright one even when the weather wasn't, and the air was always a breath of fresh air, the lakes and rivers were full of crystal clear water which was great to paddle in, the inhabitants used to be so full of life and would happily get on with their lives, of course there was the small crisis of the war against the Overlanders, but that never seemed to stop most people from enjoying all this city had to offer. Now however, the sun never shone, an eerie darkness surrounded the city and the place was always full of polluted, toxic air, the lakes and rivers were now full of toxic waste which was dumped in there by every factory and Shadowbot, and now the inhabitants were drained of life and will, they were forced to work in horrible factories, the war against the Overlanders was now the least of their problems and there was the fact that they were no longer beings of flesh and blood but stone cold robots which Robotnik and turned them into via his Robotersier.

Luckily this factory was deprived of what the freedom fighters called Robians, a mixture of robots and Mobians, it was operated purely on machines, which made it that much easier to attack. "Alright Sonic, there's the target" Matthew said, looking through some binoculars, which he then passed to Sonic, "Piece of cake" Sonic replied, "We'll be done by dinner,"

"Sonic get serious, this could be dangerous" Matthew scolded,

"Sorry, c'mon let's do it to it" Sonic said, racing with Matthew towards the factory. Literally. They found their way into the factory through the ventilation system, making their way toward the centre of the building to plant the explosives. Finding it with not too much trouble, they made their way to the control panel, where Matthew was searching for any kind of information that could help their rebellion make some more progress, while Sonic set the explosives on the wall,

"Hey Matt, I need to know how long to set them for" Sonic whispered, they were cautious as there were many Shadowbots guarding the factory, "Set it for ten minutes Sonic, that'll give us plenty of time to get out of here" Matthew whispered back,

"Are you sure?" Sonic asked "We could be out of here in like five minutes"

"I know, but it's better to be safe than sorry" Matthew replied

"Alright, you find anything useful?" Sonic questioned,

"For the love of Mobius!" Matthew said, in a much louder voice, not quite shouting, but it was enough for the Shadowbots to hear him, "What's wrong?" Sonic asked, just setting the timer to go off, "Robotnik wasn't the one who invented the Robotersier!" Matthew explained,

"What?" Sonic exclaimed, but then he suddenly heard the sound of robot gears engaging,

"Uh oh trouble, we gotta get out of here", the two went back through the vents and found the way to the exit point,

"Hey guys, its Carlie, how are things on your end?" she asked,

"There just great, we've had to duck and destroy Shadowbots, find our way through the vents which took forever, but the good news we're finally at the exit point" Matthew explained,

"Alright, use the rope to get down, the vent on your left will be strong enough to withstand you both" Carlie said "Over and out,"

Matthew found the vent and tied the rope they had brought with them around it tightly, using all of his training when he was a sergeant to tie an extremely tight knot. He started lowering himself down, "You follow when I tell you, I'm gonna make sure there's no trouble down below ok" Matthew told Sonic,

"Alright, we have five minutes to clear the place before the bomb goes off" Sonic reminded, Matthew scaled down the forty foot building, making sure to check his surroundings, although there wasn't much to see visually, thanks to the pollution, but there were a few Shadowbots about. Avoiding them, Matthew slowly hid himself behind a nearby pile of scrap metal, "Ok Sonic, come on down" Matthew told Sonic, through their communication watches,

"On my way" Sonic replied. Sonic took a hold of the rope and started carefully making his descent, paying attention to what was around him as well.

Then something happened.  
The bomb went off.

The factory erupted in flames, the explosion as fierce as a lion's roar, Matthew ducked down completely behind the pile of scrap metal, praying that it would shield him from the flames and flying debris. It did. Matthew was relieved that it protected him, but when he heard the static noise from his watch, he realised that something had gone wrong, checking his watch he saw that there should've been just under five minutes before the bomb went off.

Questions started racing through his mind, did Sonic set the time for less? No that couldn't be it; he had seen the bomb set for ten minutes, what happened? What went wrong? And more importantly where was Sonic? Matthew tried using the communication watch, but there was just static, his fears grew as he search frantically for his comrade. The smoke was thick and hard to see threw, he was crawling on his stomach to avoid inhaling as much smoke as possible, but he was coughing erratically from the smoke, it was worse than the polluted air that surrounded the entire city.

He could make out a figure in the distance, and he started going towards it, hoping and praying that it was Sonic, but emerging from the smoke was a Shadowbot, Matthew was in no state to fight it, so he quickly crawled behind some more scrap metal to hide himself, after it had gone he restarted his search. He'd been there for what felt like hours, as he grew more panicked and frantic, he again had seen many figures, all turning out to be more Shadowbots, but he eventually saw a small figure that he could just about make out, he crawled as quickly as he could, but he was weaker than when they first came. It was Sonic. He was lying lifeless on the solid ground, Matthew could see that Sonic was gravely injured, he had been burned from the explosion and no doubt that he would've got injuries from falling from the building. Matthew scooped up the unconscious hedgehog and using every bit of strength he had ran as fast as he could back to Knothole.

Back in Knothole Carlie was also panicking because she had lost all contact with both allies over an hour ago. She was pacing by the Great Oak Slide, the entrance to Knothole, desperately waiting for them to reappear, Sally saw her face and went over to see what was wrong. "Carlie is something wrong?" Sally asked her,

"No it's nothing to worry about Princess" she replied

"Has something gone wrong on the mission?" Sally questioned, worried about Matthew and Sonic,

"I don't know, I lost all contact over an hour ago, they should be back by now" Carlie answered, both Sally and Carlie were at a loss for words, not knowing what to say to comfort each other, Sally went back to see Bunnie and Carlie joined the other adults in the communication hut to see if there was any news. "Ah am sure there fine Sally-girl" Bunnie said trying to comfort her friend,

"I hope so" Sally replied. Matthew had finally reached the entrance of Knothole and wanted to stop and catch his breath, but he knew he couldn't, he had to get Sonic to the Doctor. Sliding down the Great Oak Slide, he landed in the hay with a thump, Sally heard and rushed to see what had happened, "Hey are you guys ok?" she asked, but she didn't need an answer, when she saw her best friend in Matthew's arms, she knew that something had gone wrong, "I'm sorry... princess, but... I have... to go" Matthew said gasping between words for breath, and he rushed towards the Medical Facility. The Medical Facility was very good standard and the top Doctor was Doctor Quack, Matthew found him with no problem. "Doc, I need a hand here" Matthew said,

"What happened?" Doctor Quack exclaimed, "Never mind, nurse see to Matthew for me, I'll see to Sonic," The nurse treated Matthew for his injuries, Carlie and Sleuth heard from Sally that they were back and rushed to see them. "Hey are you alright?" Carlie asked,

"I'll be fine, it's Sonic I'm worried about" Matthew said, wracked with guilt,

"What happened?" Sleuth asked,

"Everything was going great, we had it all under control, but the bomb went off early" Matthew explained, "How?" Carlie asked,

"I don't know" Matthew answered "Sonic was climbing down the rope when it went off"

"Oh no" Carlie said softly, she comforted Matthew and they all waited for three long, gruelling hours to wait for some news and any sign of hope. The Doctor eventually stepped outside the room Sonic was in, "Well doc?" Matthew asked,

"Matthew I understand what happened in Robotroplis and considering Sonic's age, it's hard to say what will happen" The doctor said,

"What's that supposed to mean?" Carlie asked,

"It means that Sonic's got a struggle ahead of him, I've got him stable, which is the good news" the doctor said,

"Well what's the bad news?" Sleuth asked

"The bad news is that there's no telling what will happen next" the doctor said,

"This is all my fault" Matthew said,

"Don't say that" Carlie replied "We've gotta believe that he'll be ok"

"I'll keep you updated" the doctor said, and with that they left.

The three joined Sally and Bunnie around the Lake of Rings, a beautiful lake that produced power rings, which helped their technology. None knew what to do, all of them just stared at each other and then at the water, the quiet, silent water that drifted around various parts of the lake, Sally used her hands to swirl the water round, the water felt cool on her hands, but nothing could make her feel better at the moment, nothing could make the team feel better.

Sally went to see Sonic, the doctor let her through, and she sat beside him on a chair. "You've gotta get better Sonic" Sally whispered to him, "Everyone here needs you, your our hope, our sunshine," She got no response from Sonic, the only noise in the room, was that of the heart monitor, it was beating slowly and steadily. It pained Sally to see her best friend like he was; usually the life of the village was now lying there, still as the trees in the forest, his body covered in cuts, bruises and burns, she let loose a few tears and took a hold of Sonic's hand, stroking it slowly, she couldn't help feeling something more than friendship, she couldn't bear to lose someone she had grown so close to. Sally collapsed in tears, her head leaning on the stiff body of her best friend, then she felt something press against her, it was her lucky necklace, Sonic had given it to her when they met, she wore it as a lucky charm, but now she thought it was Sonic who needed the luck. She took it from around her neck and graced it upon Sonic's neck. "This will help, remember you gave it to me" Sally told him, then she saw something that gave her hope, she saw Sonic's head move, it was only ever so slightly, but that was all that she needed to be reassured that he was going to make it through. "Doc!" Sally shouted, and he came running in,

"What's wrong Princess?" He asked, a little worried,

"It's Sonic, he moved" She said thrilled,

"Really, that's great" the Doctor said also a tint of happiness in his voice, but he was still concerned with the worst possible scenario.

Sally ran to the others to tell them what the doctor told her to, "Guys Doctor Quack wants us to all to go to the Medical Facility right away" she said, filled with excitement,

"Why has something happened?" Matthew asked

"You bet, he says it's good news, but he wouldn't tell me till I got you guys, so c'mon hurry up" Sally said, almost pushing some of them to move faster. They arrived soon enough and the doctor did have some good news to tell them, "Sonic has made a remarkable recovery and I am glad to say that he should wake up within a few hours, he's made it through the worst so you can all put your minds at rest" he told them. Everyone was relieved, but none more than Sally and Matthew, the latter were the only ones not to leave, they both went to see Sonic, "Is that your necklace Princess?" Matthew asked,

"Yeah, I thought it would help, he was the one who gave it to me after all" Sally replied,

"I think it worked" Matthew suggested

"Yeah" Sally sighed.

It was about two hours before they got any sign of movement from Sonic, but when they did, they couldn't be happier. As Sonic regained consciousness he slowly began to move more, he could fell the warmth and softness of the bed he was in, his vision was blurred, but he could make out two figures, who he recognised almost straight away, he too could hear to sound of the heart monitor machine and he could feel warmth in his hand where Sally was holding him. "Sal?" Sonic asked weakly, "I'm here Sonic" Sally answered, clutching his hand, "And so is Matthew"

"I'm sorry Matthew" Sonic said weakly

"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for Sonic" Matthew replied softly, "I shouldn't have made you come,"

"You doin ok Sal?" Sonic asked her,

"Never better" Sally answered, Sonic felt the necklace around his neck, "I gave you that for luck,"

"I know, I heard" Sonic said

"Really?" the doctor said walking into the room,

"Yeah I heard Sally talking to me, only parts, but" Sonic told them,

"You just rest Sonic, I'm gonna find out how this happened" Matthew promised, Matthew left to get Carlie and Sleuth and tell them the good news, while Sally went to see Bunnie and tell her everything, and Sonic got some rest. "See ah told ya everythang would be ok" Bunnie said to Sally,

"I know, I know you were right" Sally said conceding to her friend,

"Where are they others?" Bunnie asked,

"They've gone to find out how this happened" Sally told her, and little did they know that something bad was going to happen, something that would change their lives again, for the worst.

Matthew, Sleuth and Carlie had gone to Robotroplis to find out what had happened during that mission, going to the main building, they sought out the controls that would hold the information they needed. The main building was where Robotnik lurked about, so they had to be careful, the building was where Castle Acorn used to be before the takeover, the castle was a beautiful building, ancient, but beautiful, and now it had been turned into a vile structure, black and gruelling, just like the person who built it. "We have to get to the main controls" Carlie told her teammates, "I should be able to access Robotnik's files and learn what happened,"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sleuth asked,

"How can you say that?" Matthew questioned

"Well, he's ok isn't he, why create more trouble for ourselves, I mean c'mon he's just a worthless kid" Sleuth replied, this made Matthew's suspicion of Sleuth grow stronger, after all he had been acting weird lately. "Sleuth we're the freedom fighters, we help and care about everyone, there all each of us have left" Carlie said, shocked by what he had said,

"C'mon Carlie, let's get to it, Sleuth, you can stand guard right here" Matthew said, and without another word, Matthew and Carlie left. They found their way to the control room and Carlie started hacking the network, "Oh my goodness, I don't believe this!" Carlie exclaimed, "What, What is it?" Matthew asked, eager to find out what she had learned, "Sleuth, he's a.." Carlie started, but just at that moment the power was cut, "What happened?"

"I don't know" Matthew replied, "But I don't like it," and they shouldn't, because right at that moment Robotnik walked in and the power came back on, "Hey can you move you're your spoiling the view" Matthew said, trying to add a bit of humour to the precarious situation,

"Cute, but I'm afraid that's the last thing you'll ever say without my consent" Robotnik said, "Let's try out my new room sized Robotersier," and with that the two were robotisised.

When no-one came back the others started to worry, Sonic was especially worried, when Sally came to see him the two went to the hut where they communicated with each other, only to find out that the communication watches had somehow been sabotaged, they couldn't get a connection to anyone. Then they heard someone coming down the Great Oak Slide, it was Sleuth, "Where's Matthew and Carlie?" Sally asked,  
"They didn't make it, Robotnik caught them and he's robotisised them" Sleuth told them, his head hanging and sadness in his voice, "Hey Sal!" Sonic shouted, he had stayed in the hut, searching for anything that would help, "What's up?" Sally asked, she and Sleuth coming in, "Carlie was able to send a final communication before she was robotised" Sonic told her,

"Really, what did she say?" Sally questioned,

"Sleuth is a traitor, he's the one who rigged the bomb to go off early and has been feeding information to Robotnik" Sonic said angrily, everyone had gathered by the hut after hearing Sonic shouting Sally, Sleuth tried to run, but there was no way he could get away, he was too outnumbered. Sleuth was taken to the Devil's Gulag, a prison for dangerous criminals, for his crimes against the Freedom Fighters, Sonic recovered from his injuries, but the original Freedom Fighters were lost. Despite having his friends around him, Sonic felt more alone than ever. The memory of the brave hearts that fought for their country were not forgotten, but there is one question left unanswered, Where do they go from here?


End file.
